This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7 119(a) on Patent Application No. 091136853 filed in TAIWAN, R.O.C. on Dec. 20, 2002, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The invention relates to a nanometer interface structure for the fabrications of diodes, transistors, light-emitting devices, and sonic devices.
Currently, the methods of manufacturing diodes by doping III-V elements include diffusion and ion implantation. The former requires a reaction temperature of 900xcx9c1200xc2x0 C., while the latter needs an expensive manufacturing apparatus. In addition, the manufacturing is based upon single crystal substrates, on which carrier types and concentration variations and adjustment are performed. The control is non-trivial. Moreover, the costs of the single crystal substrates and equipment are too expensive. The materials are also limited to the III-V family and the compatibility of the manufacturing process is very poor. Therefore, it is imperative to find better diode manufacturing processes, materials, and structures.
To solve the problems existing in the prior art, the invention provides a self-organized nanometer interface structure. Metal atoms, oxygen atoms, nitrogen atoms, and carbon atoms self-organize into interface structures of metals, metal oxides, metal nitrides, and metal carbonates. Such interface structures are used as the main junction structure in electronic elements, as in diodes, transistors, light-emitting devices, and sonic devices. The self-organized interface structure includes at least an electrode layer, an interface layer, and an extensive layer. The electrode layer is the part that connects the main junction and the electrode. It is mainly made of metals or metal alloys. The interface layer is the polarity change layer of the semiconductor material or the storage tunneling layer of carriers. It is mainly made of metal oxides, metal nitrides, metal carbonates and their combinations. The interface layer has an obvious bell-shape distribution of oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon atoms and an obvious gradient concentration variation of oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon atoms. The extensive layer is used for connections in periodic structures or another end electrode. It is mainly made of metal oxides, metal nitrides, metal carbonates and their combinations. The manufacturing process only requires a usual sputtering apparatus to effectively control the gas ratio in the sputtering chamber. The chemical dynamics difference of reactive sputtering induces self organization to form a special nanometer interface structure.
The invention achieves the following goals: no expensive single crystal substrate is required; there is a wide variety of material selections; the manufacturing process is more compatible; the control is easy; and the cost is lower.